No way, this is bad news to the entire world

RIP

Yeah, saw it just now .. rip.

Rock n roll just died a little.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2OLE_gHVREY

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JXDtdV3_hEs

And:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qdnFsSiUFjk

http://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-11991161

RIP Mr Berry

You'll always have your Ding-a-Ling!!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UaEC-lWSlmI

and the best:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aCT-xMbxb8w

https://youtu.be/7uR5G-Jlugg

https://youtu.be/5madtiLf7DI

thanks for all the music

https://youtu.be/wzKd0aiaK4c

May he rest in peace!

I am trying to post a picture of keith's letter to chuck but I can't get it to work!

Sad news, although at 90 years of age, it was only a matter of time, I suppose.

His contribution to rock n roll is incalculable. No Chuck = No Stones and No Beatles.

You cant even begin to imagine what rock 'n' roll would sound like had he never existed.

RIP Chuck.

Hail Hail Chuck! His stamp on rock and roll is as large as anyone's and much larger than most. This very message board would probably not exist had Chuck never existed.



Riffy

I met Chuck Berry in January 1980 at Heat, a long since-defunct club in a warehouse on the lower west side of Manhattan, near the Hudson River docks.  The streets outside were all of cobblestone and had ancient trolley tracks inlaid, the lines filled with white ice.  Chuck had just gotten out of prison for tax evasion and was barnstorming the US to raise some cash.

Chuck's sets were advertised for 10:00 PM and midnight.  The opening act was Sylvain Sylvain from the New York Dolls with his new band, who weren't very interesting.  That was over at 10:30, and Chuck didn't come on until after 1:00 AM.  I had been there since around eight o'clock, and didn't want to give up my spot at the edge of the stage to go urinate, though by the time Chuck's first set ended, I needed to badly.

So I'm in the men's room alone and had just finished up, when behind me I hear a door creak like in a haunted house.  I turn around and Chuck walks in through a private door that I hadn't noticed.  It's wild that he didn't have a toilet in his dressing room, but that was warehouse space nightlife, and there may not have been a dressing room, even.

He was dressed all in red, suit and shirt.  There was nothing for us to do but eyeball each other.

I could have cried. 

"Chuck!" I blurted, "Thank you!  We all owe you so much!  Everybody in rock 'n' roll does!"  I swear, I stopped just short of saying, All white people do!

"Far out!" Chuck said, happily.  He made like to slap my hand, and I duly accepted his five. 

"Be cool," Chuck concluded.  I've always wished I had taken his advice.

I stayed for the second show and fought my way to another spot at the front, farther away from Chuck than I had been for the first show.  A few songs in, Chuck saw me down there and bopped his way over.  I no longer remember what song it was, but he leaned over close to me and played the solo right into my face.  His hair (I had been surprised to see) was frizzed out and grey, not dyed and slicked, and blue and purple stage lights gleamed off the tips.  He dropped sweat all over me.  I was the literary type: Jesus Christ, I thought, This is like being fucked by Frederick Douglass! 

When Chuck finished the song, he handed me the pick.  I was surprised to see it was a heavy-gauge, opaque grey model, quite ordinary.  Maybe I expected it to light up, or something.  I still have it, tucked inside David Johansen's harmonica case, along with Bo Diddley's broken bottom E-string, which was handed to me from a different stage years later.  (I got to talk to Bo that night, too.  I'm like that.)

By the time Chuck finished his second set, which had started about 3:30 AM, there were no cabs to be had.  I walked back across the frozen west side and made it to my NYU dorm room at about a quarter to six.  That was the start of my second semester.

I thought I was tired then, but I'm really tired now. 

Jesus Christ, we are fucked by Father Time.  Rest in peace, Chuck.  That was 37 years ago.

Talk about an incalculable contribution to rock 'n roll, he more than half invented it. Other musicians we tend to idolize (Jimi, Keith, etc.) all acknowledged their debt to him.

I was a kid who listened to the Beatles and Beach Boys, the Rolling Stones and Jimi Hendrix. Those artists lead me to the true King of Rock and Roll, Mr. Chuck Berry.

All of the greatest riffs come from Chuck. At any time of day, put a Chuck record on, and the party has started. If you are behind the wheel, you drive faster. If you are on the dance floor, your moves become better! That locomotive quality to his playing is purely genius. The man was an epic performer, singer, songwriter and guitarist.

I was very much looking forward to any press he was going to grant during the build up to his new record, due sometime this year.

My Sunday will be spent listening to his great music, the music that really did change the entire world.

andrews27 wrote on Mar 18^th, 2017 at 7:49pm:

I met Chuck Berry in January 1980... I though I was tired then, but I'm really tired now.

nice post

stonedinaustralia wrote on Mar 18^th, 2017 at 8:47pm:

andrews27 wrote on Mar 18th, 2017 at 7:49pm: I met Chuck Berry in January 1980... I though I was tired then, but I'm really tired now.  nice post

hail hail!

In addition to his guitar licks and showmanship, Chuck brought rock'n'roll lyrics to a new level of intelligence and wit.  We will not see his like again.

Gazza wrote on Mar 18^th, 2017 at 7:14pm:

Sad news, although at 90 years of age, it was only a matter of time, I suppose. His contribution to rock n roll is incalculable. No Chuck = No Stones and No Beatles. You cant even begin to imagine what rock 'n' roll would sound like had he never existed. RIP Chuck.

__________________________________


It is a sad day indeed. I mean .. like you .. I knew these things (and this) was gonna be sooner or later but still .. it is actualluy 'sad' to me .. sad in a real way .. unlike the passing of other celebs I never knew personally.


Chuck.. you are.. and always will be .. the man -

Thank you for the music, Mr. Chuck Berry.

RIP.

Sad news...does anyone know if he finished the album he was rumored to be working on the last few months?

True Rock n Roll legend. RIP Mr Chuck Berry. We were playing 'Johnny B Goode' on jukebox down the pub last night, but did'nt see the news till we got home. He inspired so many musicians. Never see his like again xx

mojoman wrote on Mar 18^th, 2017 at 10:05pm:

stonedinaustralia wrote on Mar 18th, 2017 at 8:47pm: andrews27 wrote on Mar 18th, 2017 at 7:49pm: I met Chuck Berry in January 1980... I though I was tired then, but I'm really tired now.  nice post hail hail!

Awesome story!  RIP Chuck

Thanks andrews27 for sharing your memories of meeting Chuck Berry, I enjoyed the recollection! Lucky You.

lotsajizz wrote on Mar 19^th, 2017 at 6:26am:

Sad news...does anyone know if he finished the album he was rumored to be working on the last few months?

I'm pretty sure he did. It was announced on his 90th birthday that it was going to be out in 2017 which suggested to me that it was already completed.

https://www.theguardian.com/music/2016/oct/18/chuck-berry-new-album-first-in-38-years

http://img.timeinc.net/time/photoessays/2008/rollingstones/rolling_stones_14.jpg

Chuck Berry was such an ICON! He was the original, real thing. RIP

Chuck must surely have been the only artist of the rock n roll era to have reached 90, no?

https://timedotcom.files.wordpress.com/2017/03/chuck-berry-10.jpg
© Ethan Russell 1969

https://timedotcom.files.wordpress.com/2017/03/chuck-berry-20.jpg
© Ahmet Ertegun, Chuck Berry and Keith Richards at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Awards 1986

https://timedotcom.files.wordpress.com/2017/03/chuck-berry-19.jpg
© Terry O'Neill

http://i386.photobucket.com/albums/oo301/Irrraaa/0000_Stones/1401x788-84893044_zps3whnwn9d.jpg
http://i386.photobucket.com/albums/oo301/Irrraaa/0000_Stones/881_zpspy3yppas.jpg
http://i386.photobucket.com/albums/oo301/Irrraaa/0000_Stones/2343_zpsgrsmrvtf.jpg

Some great CB stories on the Grateful Dead Channel today!!


Gazza wrote on Mar 19^th, 2017 at 2:49pm:

Chuck must surely have been the only artist of the rock n roll era to have reached 90, no?

Forget about 90...how about 80+??
RnR took a beating last year, we all know that...but now...who is left in the 80+'s club?

R.I.P. I saw Chuck twice, in '69 at Toronto Rock & Roll Revival & '72 at Massey Hall, a band I was in used to cover J.B. Goode & Roll Over Beethoven, anybody who played in a Band had a go at one of his songs, a true pioneer.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=26QtmysxADs

Chuck made some of the best driving music ever.

Steel Wheels wrote on Mar 20^th, 2017 at 12:42pm:

Chuck made some of the best driving music ever.

https://youtu.be/9jKrHzps0XM

Paranoid Android wrote on Mar 20^th, 2017 at 9:12am:

Some great CB stories on the Grateful Dead Channel today!! Gazza wrote on Mar 19th, 2017 at 2:49pm: Chuck must surely have been the only artist of the rock n roll era to have reached 90, no? Forget about 90...how about 80+?? RnR took a beating last year, we all know that...but now...who is left in the 80+'s club?

Fats Domino (89), Jerry Lee Lewis, Little Richard and Buddy 'Motherfucker' Guy.

Some pretty heavy hitters there.

I was cruising the open roads with the windows down and Chuck cranked today.

For those that are wondering about the new album, his official website (like most official websites) has contained all the information about the release now for at least four and half months, and it was updated today.

Gazza wrote on Mar 20^th, 2017 at 5:05pm:

Paranoid Android wrote on Mar 20th, 2017 at 9:12am: Some great CB stories on the Grateful Dead Channel today!! Gazza wrote on Mar 19th, 2017 at 2:49pm: Chuck must surely have been the only artist of the rock n roll era to have reached 90, no? Forget about 90...how about 80+?? RnR took a beating last year, we all know that...but now...who is left in the 80+'s club? Fats Domino (89), Jerry Lee Lewis, Little Richard and Buddy 'Motherfucker' Guy. Some pretty heavy hitters there.

Well John Mayall and our very own Bill Wyman is already 80+

<  ------ RIP Chuck !!!!!!






https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UzQOHmcPxvA

Found a Best of Chuck Berry CD in a thrift shop today, will give it a listen. 

Also picked up Dylan's Highway 61 Revisited, Simon & Garfunkel Concert in Central Park and Bo Diddley's Bo knows Bo.

Voodoo Chile in Wonderland wrote on Mar 20^th, 2017 at 6:56pm:

Gazza wrote on Mar 20th, 2017 at 5:05pm: Paranoid Android wrote on Mar 20th, 2017 at 9:12am: Some great CB stories on the Grateful Dead Channel today!! Gazza wrote on Mar 19th, 2017 at 2:49pm: Chuck must surely have been the only artist of the rock n roll era to have reached 90, no? Forget about 90...how about 80+?? RnR took a beating last year, we all know that...but now...who is left in the 80+'s club? Fats Domino (89), Jerry Lee Lewis, Little Richard and Buddy 'Motherfucker' Guy. Some pretty heavy hitters there. Well John Mayall and our very own Bill Wyman is already 80+

Damn Voo, you beat me to it.  Only the greatest bass player ever.  This guy....https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nv3m0q22g4s

I met him on his birthday in the mid 70ies. Can't remember the exact year.
All of a sudden he stood beside me and my back then girlfriend watching the support act from the back of the packed hall.
We wished him a "Happy Birthday" and he turned over to us with a smile.
Guess he recognized me for not more than half a second then he went over
to my really good looking girlfriend (a bushy bushy blonde hairdo she got).
He mumbled some words to her then he gave me, with a big grin, a clap on my shoulder, called me a lucky guy  and left to go on stage. On this day he let everybody who wanted enter the stage to sing and dance
or do whatever. It was one of his really good concerts. Well, this was my moment with Chuck.

RIP Chuck and thanks for the music.
Guess I didn't play any other intro more often on my guitars than the one of Johnny B Goode.

XM Deep Tracks had a cool interview with George Thorogood  talking about Chuck's passing. George said he's still with us but right now he has..No Particular Place to Go.....my vote for the greatest R&R song of all time.

Gazza wrote on Mar 20^th, 2017 at 5:05pm:

Paranoid Android wrote on Mar 20th, 2017 at 9:12am: Some great CB stories on the Grateful Dead Channel today!! Gazza wrote on Mar 19th, 2017 at 2:49pm: Chuck must surely have been the only artist of the rock n roll era to have reached 90, no? Forget about 90...how about 80+?? RnR took a beating last year, we all know that...but now...who is left in the 80+'s club? Fats Domino (89), Jerry Lee Lewis, Little Richard and Buddy 'Motherfucker' Guy. Some pretty heavy hitters there.

BB King also made it to 89 or 90.

Yes, but he passed away in 2015, we made a tribute to that King

LOL Bitch, yoy even replied in that thread, check it out here

http://rocksoff.org/cgi-bin/messageboard/YaBB.pl?num=1431674141/all

...now that we're talking about

https://youtu.be/72KahQw8H8M

This is rock... thanks Chuck

https://youtu.be/z72wCH5ZZy0

https://youtu.be/pCzyZqj8UAg

https://youtu.be/BPFeAe0gQx0

https://youtu.be/a4u4FSTxd3s

Here's the new track:

http://www.billboard.com/articles/news/7735629/chuck-berry-final-album-chuck

Voodoo Chile in Wonderland wrote on Mar 21^st, 2017 at 10:17pm:

This is rock... thanks Chuck https://youtu.be/z72wCH5ZZy0

.......and for the encore:


https://youtu.be/b0SyhJkgfKw

Steel Wheels wrote on Mar 22^nd, 2017 at 5:52am:

Here's the new track: http://www.billboard.com/articles/news/7735629/chuck-berry-final-album-chuck

Thanks for the link...very Johnny Be Goode sounding

Live at Leeds '71.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_9MWwA5WdwY

How great Chuck would have sounded singing Big Boys.  I don't know why a new-material record didn't follow the Hail, Hail Rock 'n' Roll movie.  Some biographer needs to explain that one.

Chuck had a studio fire in the late 80's and everything was destroyed. This album has many tracks that he had worked on back then, just newly recorded.

http://www.upi.com/Archives/1989/03/25/Fire-guts-Chuck-Berrys-recording-studio/5872606805200/

I'm sure Keith knew of a studio space...

Whatever happened to Berry Park ?


https://youtu.be/kODAO27wVzQ

https://youtu.be/57rrb_95PGU

Edith Grove wrote on Mar 23^rd, 2017 at 9:05am:

Whatever happened to Berry Park ? https://youtu.be/kODAO27wVzQ

I'm pretty sure Berry Park is where he's been living.

Love Chuck. RIP to the true King of Rock And Roll. Johnny B Goode is the quintessial rock and roll song. This is one of my favorite cover versions.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-nzna-QPmqM

I never liked that "tombstone" outside Berry Park.  Luckily, it took him 50-odd years to claim it.  It's like a cenotaph for his recording career, however.

A giant and as amazing and appreciated as he was, he is still criminally underrated. The way I look at it is if you take Chuck Berry out of American music, it's hard to imagine if it would even exist in its current form. There is almost no one else you can say that about.

The Wick wrote on Mar 24^th, 2017 at 1:10pm:

A giant and as amazing and appreciated as he was, he is still criminally underrated. The way I look at it is if you take Chuck Berry out of American music, it's hard to imagine if it would even exist in its current form. There is almost no one else you can say that about.

Agree...except add Johnny Johnson who was the "inspiration" to many of the great Berry tunes.

gimmekeef wrote on Mar 24^th, 2017 at 2:09pm:

The Wick wrote on Mar 24th, 2017 at 1:10pm: A giant and as amazing and appreciated as he was, he is still criminally underrated. The way I look at it is if you take Chuck Berry out of American music, it's hard to imagine if it would even exist in its current form. There is almost no one else you can say that about. Agree...except add Johnny Johnson who was the "inspiration" to many of the great Berry tunes.

Yep, Johnny B Goode was supposed to be about him.

Well, as you know there are a lot of pictures of Chuck Berry with members of the Stones, some of them posted in this thread in excellent definition and big size however instead of changing the header on a daily basis with pictures of Chick and members of the Stones I decided to use this one for the whole week; the reason, see Paul. Leonard and Keith they all are in awe listening to Chuck showing admiration and respect, how cool!

http://www.rocksoff.org/i2-keithwithpaulleonardandchuck.jpg
In memory of Chuck Berry
The Kennedy Center, Washington, DC - With Paul Simon, Leonard Cohen and Keith Richards
Near the day of the tribute to Hubert Sumlin (howlin' for Hubert)... The Apollo Theatre, NYC - February 24, 2012 © Matthew J. Lee/Globe staff

This is cool. Led Zeppelin doing a Chuck cover.  :keithpunky :willya
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rtud5JK9Pp0

sweetcharmedlife wrote on Mar 26^th, 2017 at 11:42am:

This is cool. Led Zeppelin doing a Chuck cover.  :keithpunky :willya https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rtud5JK9Pp0

excellent

A Chuck Berry classic making great a legendary dance scene

https://youtu.be/WSLMN6g_Od4

does anyone know where i can buy a hail hail R&R dvd.. without having to sell my house first?

no one?

You're out of luck unless you want to pay a huge sum for one especially in the time following his passing. It's been out of print for years.

http://www.pollstar.com/news_article.aspx?ID=830381

Steel Wheels wrote on Apr 10^th, 2017 at 9:19am:

You're out of luck unless you want to pay a huge sum for one especially in the time following his passing. It's been out of print for years.

>:(

Marshall Chess on Chuck Berry's Funeral: The Rolling Stones and Eric Clapton Should Have Been There


https://www.yahoo.com/music/marshall-chess-chuck-berrys-funeral-rolling-stones-eric-170432175.html

Perhaps they wanted to keep things more focused on Chuck Berry as opposed to all the cameras being on them, but they sure don't show up to too many of these things. It would have been nice if at least one of them showed up.

The Beatles and Stones eclipsed everyone before them. You really can't have members from either band show up to pay respects because the entire room shifts to them. Let's not even get on the topic of how you'd handle security. Can't have those guys with the common folk.

Steel Wheels wrote on Apr 14^th, 2017 at 7:43pm:

The Beatles and Stones eclipsed everyone before them. You really can't have members from either band show up to pay respects because the entire room shifts to them. Let's not even get on the topic of how you'd handle security. Can't have those guys with the common folk.

:willya :thatwassmart

Steel Wheels wrote on Mar 23^rd, 2017 at 5:35am:

Chuck had a studio fire in the late 80's and everything was destroyed. This album has many tracks that he had worked on back then, just newly recorded.

Chuck's son talks about this very thing in the latest interview:

http://www.newyorker.com/culture/culture-desk/listen-to-a-new-chuck-berry-song

And another new track is in that link...what a slow slinky Chuck groove.

I've never been of much use when it came to bootlegs & rare stuff as I don't have much
(think the rarest things in my collection are "rarities" & "goddess in the doorway"),
but today is the day I'm giving back to the community!

I've bought the out of print "hail hail " dvd (4 dvd box set) and I'm ready to share it.

If anyone wants a copy give me a PM shout & I'll give you a link to download.

(only for board members who subscribed prior today)

http://images.45worlds.com/f/dv/chuck-berry-hail-hail-rock-n-roll-3-dv.jpg

I feel like this is the end of an era. Chuck was an original, and an Icon and I feel the loss of his life sadly. 

I have that four disc set for years and I must say it's really great.

This was a Movie I won tickets to, I was so stoked when I Won!I was the __caller! It was a great evening at the Naro!
Those were the days! 2 tickets to the show and a poster! Still have somewhere! I took my now wife girlfriend who at the time had now idea who Chuck was! She could not believe his/the songs he did/wrote! And not to mention the stars that were stars because of Chuck Berry! Once again thank you Keith for the movie and being smart enough then to do it before it was too late! Without Chuck Rock N Roll did not existed sorry Jerry Lee, Richard, Fats, Elvis, Buddy, and Bill! YOU guys of course helped but Chuck wrote and played everything! My Favorite go to song Johnny B. Goode! and of the words and the stories he told!
SCHOOL DAYS HAIL HAIL ROCK AND ROLL!

Chuck was an original and no doubt without him Rock may never have rolled. But let's also remember that Johnny Johnson really "co-wrote" many of the hits without receiving his credit. Keith attempts to make that right in Hail Hail.....

gimmekeef wrote on Mar 7^th, 2018 at 9:26am:

Chuck was an original and no doubt without him Rock may never have rolled. But let's also remember that Johnny Johnson really "co-wrote" many of the hits without receiving his credit. Keith attempts to make that right in Hail Hail.....

https://youtu.be/j0u2A2HEs-Q

Edith Grove wrote on Mar 7^th, 2018 at 11:12am:

gimmekeef wrote on Mar 7th, 2018 at 9:26am: Chuck was an original and no doubt without him Rock may never have rolled. But let's also remember that Johnny Johnson really "co-wrote" many of the hits without receiving his credit. Keith attempts to make that right in Hail Hail..... https://youtu.be/j0u2A2HEs-Q

Can't agree More!